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NDS claims journalists arrested in Kandahar for ‘collaborating’ with Taliban

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(Last Updated On: August 1, 2021)

The Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) stated Sunday that four journalists were arrested in southern Kandahar province this week for “collaborating” with the Taliban militants.

The journalists – three reporters from Nation Voice [Millat Ghag] Radio, Bismillah Watandost, Qudratullah Sultani, and Mohibullah Obaidi; and Sanullah Siam who claimed to be working with China’s Xinhua news agency – were arrested after they visited the Spin Boldak border crossing last week after it had been seized by the Taliban.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the NDS said the reporters met and interviewed Taliban leaders and Pakistan spy agency (ISI) officials – including Mullah Gul Agha and Mawlavi Manzor Taliban spy chiefs; General Mobin and Faizullah, two members of ISI; and Mullah Yaqoob, the son of former Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

The meeting reportedly took place in the house of former Kandahar Police Chief General Abdul Raziq Spin Boldak in Kandahar province.

The NDS stated that the reporters wanted to “purify” the Taliban and “to ignore the inhuman acts of this terrorist group in some provinces of the country, especially the tragic events in Spin Boldak region so as to direct the public opinion in favor of the Taliban.”

The NDS stated that the Nation Voice [Millat Ghag] Radio Station was illegally operating as it has no license from the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Meanwhile, Xinhua rejected Sanaullah Siam’s claim that he was working for the news agency.

“Hereby Xinhua denies the claim made by Mr. Sayam (Siam) as Sayam is not the employee of Xinhua. In the meantime, Xinhua confirms that Mr. Sayam as a freelancer used to sell his products and Xinhua like other news agencies sometimes used to buy photos from him, and buying photos in no way means that Sayam is Xinhua’s staff,” the agency said in a statement.

The NDS stated that Siam was illegally operating under Xinhua’s name.

“Recently, Bismillah Watandost had a mission to make contact with Kandahar governor and encourage him to hand over the province to the Taliban so that they (Taliban) hold Eid prayers in the Kandahar government compound; therefore, Kandahar governor in a letter urged the Kandahar NDS directorate office to arrest these reporters,” the NDS claimed.

This comes after human rights and media freedom advocates last week called on authorities in Afghanistan to release the four journalists.

But Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement late Friday that “as the Afghan conflict escalates, all parties seem intent on silencing the country’s media.”

“Unless charged with a genuine crime, the four journalists should be released immediately,” the statement read.

Reports indicate that the four traveled to the district to investigate reports of Afghan civilian killings by Taliban insurgents.

According to HWR, Siam is a free-lance cameraman.

“The arrests …underscore rising concerns the Afghan government is trying to shield itself from media criticism. Among the many threats they face, Afghanistan’s embattled journalists should not also have to face prosecution for doing their jobs,” said HWR.

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ISIS-K leader reportedly living in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

Sanaullah Ghaffari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajar, is reportedly the ISIS-Khorasan (Daesh) branch leader and is holed up in Pakistan, Reuters reports.

The 29-year-old took over as leader in 2020 and under his leadership the group has carried out extreme attacks as a means of recruiting, Reuters reported.

Reuters noted that little was known about Ghafari before the deadly 2021 ISIS attack on Kabul Airport, which killed 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American soldiers.

But after Friday’s deadly attack in a concert hall in Moscow, which left 139 people dead, Ghaffari’s group has come under intense scrutiny.

Reuters reports that Ghaffari is said to have been involved in several attacks in Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan.

Pakistani officials said months ago that Ghaffari had been killed in Kunar province in Afghanistan in June last year, but Reuters has reported that he did not die and instead fled to Pakistan and lives in the border province of Baluchistan.

Abdul Matin Qani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior of Afghanistan, says that Daesh has been suppressed in Afghanistan for more than two years and has lost its operational capacity.

The last attack carried out by Daesh in Afghanistan was the attack on the Kabul Bank office in Kandahar last week which left three dead and 12 wounded.

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IPL: Sunrisers thump MI in record breaking match

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

It was raining records at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday with the hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) clinching a 31-run victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 8 of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Sunrisers’ batting rewrote the record books on a batting belter after the posted 277 for three.

SRH now have the highest team score in the history of the IPL – beating Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) 263 for five from the 2013 season.

In reply, MI made a spirited effort, and at one stage, were contenders to do the near impossible. In the slog overs, the enormity of the target proved a bit too much, and SRH clinched victory, but not without numerous nervous moments.

To put into perspective the carnage we witnessed – Heinrich Klaasen’s 23-ball half-century was the slowest fifty of the SRH innings.

Travis Head, playing his first match for SRH, raced to the milestone in 18 balls. Abhishek Sharma got there even faster – in 16 balls – to record the quickest fifty by an SRH batter in IPL history.

While Sunrisers notched up the highest total in the 16-year history of the IPL, just as incredibly, Mumbai Indians almost paid them back with the same coin, their batters coming out with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

The sixes kept rolling off the Mumbai bats too, helping them keep up with the asking rate for most of the chase, eventually however, they ran out of steam and finished on 246 for 5, the highest IPL total in a losing cause.

As ESPNcricinfo reported, never were more runs scored in a men’s T20 match (523). Never were most sixes hit in a men’s T20 (38). At the end of the close to four-hour six-fest, only two bowlers returned with an economy rate of under ten an over.

Thursday, March 28 : Match 9

Thursday’s match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur sees Rajasthan Royals go up against Delhi Capitals.

Fans in Afghanistan can tune in to Ariana Television to watch the match live from 6.30pm. Alternatively the match can be screened live on arianatelevision.com

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Magnitude 5.2 quake jolts Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

An earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter Scale jolted Afghanistan on Thursday afternoon, the National Center for Seismology reported.

The quake was at a depth of 70km and epicentered in the mountainous north-eastern area of Ashkāsham.

The jolt was felt across the region including in Kabul, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

In October last year, over 2,000 people were killed when four 6.3-magnitude earthquakes struck in Herat province.

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